Amid the ongoing power crisis plaguing the nation, a disturbing video has surfaced on social media revealing the dire consequences of the electricity shortage on healthcare delivery, particularly at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Tema General Hospital.
The video, which circulated on GhanaWeb, portrays the ward submerged in darkness due to the absence of electricity supply. Although the exact date of the recording remains unclear, a voice believed to be that of a hospital staff member provided context.
In the video, the staff member lamented the outage, highlighting the critical situation faced by newborns relying on medical equipment like the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine.
She expressed concern over the lack of essential equipment like flow meters, warning of the heightened risk of losing multiple infants if power was not restored promptly.
Furthermore, she disclosed that the unit was operating at full capacity, with approximately ten babies in critical condition.
“There is lights out here at the Tema General Hospital. This baby is on CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) and all of it have gone off. While there is oxygen available, there is no flow meter to connect… If we don’t get light in few minutes, the probability that we might lose a lot of babies is high,” she stated.
This footage sheds light on the harsh reality of the power crisis and its detrimental effects on healthcare services.
Despite growing public demands for a load-shedding schedule to help citizens cope with the situation, both the Ministry of Energy and the Electricity Company of Ghana have remained firm in their stance, rejecting the need for a timetable.
In a recent interview, Energy Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh dismissed calls for a schedule, suggesting that those advocating for one should create their own if they believe “dumsor” exists.
His remarks have drawn criticism from some quarters, with many labeling them as insensitive to the suffering of the Ghanaian populace.